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US authorities seize crypto website Bitzlato as part of international enforcement action
The United States Department of Justice is expected to announce a “major international cryptocurrency enforcement action.” According to a Jan. 18 announcement, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco will lead a press conference in which the Justice Department will announce a major enforcement action — now believed to be against the crypto firm Bitzlato. The U.S. Treasury Department is also expected to announce a similar enforcement action. Other speakers at the event will include Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite of the Department of Justice’s criminal division, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace of the Eastern District of New York, FBI Associate Deputy Director Brian Turner, and Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo. This story is developing and will be updated. [flexi-common-too...
FTX fallout: SBF trial could set precedent for the crypto industry
After the collapse of major cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022, former CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried was arrested by Bahaman authorities on Dec. 12. Just a day later, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed charges against him for allegedly defrauding investors and violating securities laws. On Dec. 22, Bankman-Fried was granted bail on a $250 million bond paid by his parents against the equity in their house. The bail order added that he would require “strict pretrial supervision,” including mental health treatment and evaluation. The former CEO faces eight criminal counts in the United States, which could result in 115 years in prison if convicted. Bankman-Fried had been under house arrest at his parent’s home in Califor...
Digital Currency Group halts dividends in an effort to preserve liquidity
Venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) has told shareholders it is halting its quarterly dividend payments until further notice as it attempts to preserve liquidity. According to the letter sent to shareholders on Jan. 17, the firm is focused on “strengthening our balance sheet by reducing operating expenses and preserving liquidity.” DCG said it was also considering selling some of the assets within its portfolio. Its financial issues are derived from the woes of a subsidiary, crypto broker Genesis Global Trading, which reportedly owes creditors more than $3 billion. Customers are currently unable to withdraw funds from Genesis after it halted withdrawals on Nov. 16, which has prompted Cameron Winklevoss — on behalf of his exchange Gemini and its users with fund...
Davos 2023: Education is key to driving sustainability in blockchain and beyond
The World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, brings together global leaders and thinkers across various industries to hone in on global issues each year. As the world of crypto and blockchain continues to push into the mainstream, it has become a topic of discussion at the legacy event. Cointelegraph editor-in-chief Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr moderated a panel on Jan. 17, which touched on sustainability efforts in the blockchain industry. Even though not all panelists come from the same background, they unanimously highlighted education and learning as the key to driving sustainability in emerging technologies during “The emergence of Breakthrough Technologies” panel. The panel’s focus viewed sustainability in the blockchain industry through two lenses. One is ...
Dogecoin carbon emissions down by 25% following Elon Musk collaboration
Research shows that Dogecoin (DOGE) was the only memecoin in 2022 to proactively reduce its carbon footprint — a key metric for mainstream adoption — by 25% in one year, thanks to the intervention of developers and Tesla CEO Elon Musk. One of the main reasons why Musk backtracked on accepting Bitcoin (BTC) payments for Tesla was high carbon emissions. At the time, he believed that Dogecoin — “even though it was created as a silly joke” — was better suited for transactions. Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2021 Owing to proactive efforts from Musk and the members of the Dogecoin ecosystem, Dogecoin saw a 25% decrease in its annual CO2 emissions. With 1,423 tons of emissions released in 2021, Dogecoi...
CFTC commissioner calls for global industry standards in crypto regulation
Caroline Pham, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) commissioner, has recently called on regulators to provide clearer guidance on crypto assets in 2023. In an interview with Bloomberg, Pham mentioned that discussions with global players over crypto regulations are ongoing. The government official said many foreign discussions are currently happening about global industry standards for crypto regulation. According to Pham, she has had more than 75 meetings with various parties to discuss topics concerning crypto regulation. The CFTC commissioner highlighted that “very advanced discussions” were happening outside of the United States about what kind of standards could be applied globally. When asked about the recent issues that highlighted flaws within the space, such ...
WEF publishes new in-depth guide to DAOs to air issues, encourage development
The World Economic Forum (WEF) released a “toolkit” for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) on Jan. 17. More than 100 experts contributed to the document’s attempt to provide “a starting point for DAOs to develop effective operational, governance and legal strategies.” The 37-page so-called toolkit is explanatory in nature, with concise but encyclopedic entries on DAOs and related topics. It described the toolkit as “a set of adaptable resources for key stakeholders to help realize the full potential of this emerging form.” DAOs have “the potential to address many of the shortcomings of the traditional firm while also realizing more equitable governance and operations,” according to the document. The World Economic Forum has published a toolkit on DAOs pic.twitter.com/i...
FTX: It took ‘Herculean investigative effort’ to identify $5.5B in liquid assets
The debtors behind FTX have identified $5.5 billion in liquid assets but reported a “substantial shortfall of digital assets” at the bankrupt crypto exchange and its U.S. arm. In a Jan. 17 announcement, FTX said it had identified $1.7 billion in cash, $3.5 billion in crypto assets and $0.3 billion in securities following the firm filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November. The debtors added that they had identified roughly $1.6 billion in digital assets associated with FTX.com — including roughly $426 million being held by the Securities Commission of the Bahamas — and $181 million connected to FTX US. “We are making important progress in our efforts to maximize recoveries, and it has taken a Herculean investigative effort from our team to uncover this preliminary information,” said FTX ...
Are we still mad at MetaMask and ConsenSys for snooping on us?
The cryptocurrency community has a tendency to fixate on a new issue every few weeks and then promptly forget about it. The limited attention span of this community misses the ultimate resolution of important issues. Over the Thanksgiving holiday in November 2022, ConsenSys released a disclosure about a privacy policy affecting MetaMask users that sent “Crypto Twitter” into a firestorm. My first reaction was also negative. That’s what a sly fox would say isn’t it? pic.twitter.com/PfKMTiNHoR — J.W. Verret, JD, CPA/CVA (@JWVerret) November 25, 2022 The MetaMask browser extension wallet uses a node called Infura. That node is owned by ConsenSys, the same company that develops MetaMask. The press release reminded users that Infura collects the internet protocol (IP) addresses and wallet addres...
Crypto recruitment execs reveal the safest jobs amid layoff season
Despite a wave of heavy crypto layoffs to start the new year, employees in technical and engineering roles, as well as senior management, will likely continue to see “strong demand” for their skills, recruitment professionals believe. It’s been a tough first few weeks of 2023 for crypto businesses and their staff. Within just two weeks, the market has already seen more than 1,600 crypto-related job cuts as a result of continued market volatility and uncertainty. However, not all departments have seen the same level of cuts. SAFU: Senior-level tech and engineering Rob Paone, founder and CEO of crypto recruitment firm Proof of Talent, told Cointelegraph that technical and engineering roles are by a “wide margin” the most in-demand jobs, even during bear markets. He said his ...
SiriusXM Taps Former Wall Street Journal Marketing Chief for New Subscription Role
SiriusXM has brought on Suzi Watford, the former chief marketing officer for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, to oversee the satellite radio giant’s streaming subscription business, the company said on Tuesday. Watford will join SiriusXM in the newly created role of chief growth officer and report to Joe Verbrugge, SiriusXM’s chief commercial officer. Her position will also include oversight of corporate marketing, data and research across SiriusXM and Pandora. “Suzi has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to build and lead talented teams to evolve and grow profitable consumer subscription businesses, and we are thrilled to have her join us,” Verbrugge said in a statement. Watford has spent the majority of her career at Murdoch-controlled media companies like News Corp.’s N...
Masa Finance launches soulbound Web3 identity protocol for Ethereum
Masa Finance has launched the first soulbound identity protocol for the Ethereum mainnet, according to a Jan. 17 press release shared with Cointelegraph. The protocol will allow for standardized soulbound tokens to be minted on Ethereum for Know Your Customer verification, credit scores and other use cases. Soulbound tokens are tokens that cannot be transferred from one wallet to another. The concept was popularized via a blog post from Vitalik Buterin, who argued that these tokens could be used to signify governance rights for decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols or to prove that a person has attended an event. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Masa Finance founders Brendan Playford and Calanthia Mei argued that soulbound tokens will expand opportunities for DeFi users to build credit and get ...
